Found a Lovan equipment rack in what looks like very good condition on Craigslist for $200. The whole fit and finish seem very top notch, but for that price is it just better to go for a Salamander Designs rack? The black MDF five-rack version goes for $294.99 on Amazon and I get Prime shipping.

It's almost $100 more, but it's brand new and with the Lovan I can't really gauge the quality without seeing it in person. The Lovan does have seven shelves compared to the Salamander Designs' five, however, I only have my turntable, integrated amp, and CD player to worry about right now. May add a dedicated preamp and power amp later on with dedicated phono section, but that would leave me with five shelves taken up out of the seven.

Any input really is appreciated! Any other suggestions would be great so long as they're below the $300 mark!

Looked into it a bit more and for what my needs are, the Lovan seems a bit excessive. Probably gonna go for the Salamander Designs so long as it'll fit my integrated amp. Made in the USA right in my state and reasonably priced too!

Figure the Archetype 3.0 will do me just fine if I decide to go for a pre-amp/amp combo in the future. If not, then I've got a nice shelf to store some of my more listened to records on! Thoughts?

I had used the Lovan Soverign racks for years with good results. But they are now in my study room for other purposes since I upgraded to SolidTech Rack of Silence years ago.

Below are what I had done to make the best out of the Lovan Soverign racks:1/ The MDF shelves are flimsy thin. I ended up stacking 2 shelves on top of each other with a vibration sheet in between to get better results. For my source components, I went to local granite shop and bought leftover pieces from countertops and have them cut to fit. Again, using the sandwich method, add one MDF shelf on top, and use the vibration dampening sheet in between, and underneath the granite to dampen vibration.

2/ Seal the gaps in the tubing using caulking and add sand or lead-shot into the legs to dampen vibration.